


A Confession of Pain

by zarabithia



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-14
Updated: 2007-04-14
Packaged: 2019-05-20 10:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14893226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Donna meets up with Tarantula, OYL.





	A Confession of Pain

_"Revenge is a Confession of Pain." - Latin Proverb_  
  
She knew the minute Tarantula escaped from prison. After all, Donna had been waiting for this moment since The Orb on New Chronus had revealed to her the events that had transpired since her death. Donna deeply regretted not being alive at the time, so that she could have given Tarantula the beating the woman so richly deserved. But Donna had learned long ago that one of the truths of the justice system was that inevitably, it would fail in some way. Criminals walked away from prisons every day that shouldn't have, either purposefully when sentences were commuted for good behavior, or accidentally, as all the well paid guards couldn't do their job correctly.

Donna had known that eventually, Catalina Flores would fall into one of those two categories. She'd hoped it was the latter, as it would be easier to explain her actions to a court if they were part of an effort to bring in an escaped fugitive. But, frankly, it wasn't really a requirement, from Donna's perspective. All she needed was for Tarantula to break free from the prison protecting her, and Donna wasn't particularly concerned about how that freedom was ascertained.

Eighteen months after the Crisis, Donna's patience was rewarded. Not only did Tarantula decide to escape from prison, but the foolish woman also headed directly for Nightwing's new city. Fortunately, Dick was taking time to heal old wounds with Roy while taking out the Impostor Nighwing and the Outsiders - not that Tarantula would have known that. New York wasn't unguarded, but Dick was the only person who could have convinced Donna not to go through with the punishment she was about to dish out. Unfortunately for Tarantula, Africa was a long way away.

Donna waited for the escaped convict to step foot inside New York City limits before making her presence known. Landing in front of her nemesis in an alley that was entirely too appropriate for rats and other assorted vermin of Tarantula's ilk, Donna smiled down at the other woman as she remarked, "You know, you _really_ should have stayed in prison."

The stupid woman had the audacity to raise a gun at Donna, as if the woman who called Dick Grayson friend, brother, and teammate didn't have enough reason to be angry at her.

Donna took the gun. Then she broke Tarantula's arm. Jerking the criminal up by her pony tail, Donna slammed the other woman's face into the side of one of the buildings framing the alley before offering a reminder of where her strength and training came from. "I trained on Themyscira. Do you have any idea how stupid you look pointing a gun at an Amazon?" The memory of Dick's expression as he'd watched Blockbuster fall from a wound inflicted by Tarantula's gun haunted Donna's memory, and instead of pushing it away, she clung to that image and used it as fuel for her already considerable hatred of this woman.

"An Amazon," Tarantula sneered. "I thought that Wonder Woman's killing spree would have shamed your bunch into having some self control."

"I am not ashamed of my sister. At least, not _that_ one." Tarantula squirmed in Donna's grip, and Donna tightened her hold, passingly noting how easy - and tempting - it would be to snap this one's neck. She dismissed the thought, knowing that Dick would blame himself for _that_ too.

Frustrated, Tarantula snapped, "Is this what they teach you on that island? How to sit on a cloud and judge all of us mortals like some kind of holier than thou gods? Because I've got news for you, lady. We didn't ask for you."

There was another futile struggle, and Donna decided to let her go. She remembered at the last minute to pull her punch. It was still substantial enough to throw Tarantula up against the opposite building in the alley.

"Your kind never would," Donna agreed. She strode over to where Tarantula was using her unbroken arm to struggle to get up. "Your kind - the murdering, raping kind - is the reason Diana and I wear these costumes. You're what we have to protect the rest of humanity against." A true statement, even if it wasn't the reason she was here.

"I never raped any-" Tarantula began, but she was interrupted as Donna broke Tarantula's other arm. Twice.

"Don't," Donna hissed. "If you even _try_ to claim that, I'm not sure I can force myself to have enough self control to make sure you get back to prison safely." Donna helped Tarantula off the ground, slamming the other woman's back against the building she'd been leaning against to emphasize her point. "And just to be perfectly clear, I'm not here as an Amazon. I'm here as a Titan. Titans are family, and you hurt one of my family very much. And you aren't even doing time for it."

"What are you talking about?"

Donna didn't know if the woman really was that stupid, or if she was trying to play innocent. Deciding to pretend both were true, Donna slammed the woman against the building again - and the cry of pain was drowned out by the mental sound of Dick's "don't touch me" that Tarantula hadn't heeded. "I'm talking about Nightwing. No means no. As a woman? You really _should_ know that." There were a million other reasons Donna hated Tarantula - but in the end, they all came down to the incident with Blockbuster and the man that Dick became. . .all things Donna couldn't share.

The only person who had hurt Dick worse was Donna. And she felt guilty every day for dying.

"You can't kill me," Tarantula said triumphantly, too pained to struggle in Donna's grasp but not too pained to allow a small smirk to sneak through her bloodied, bruised face. "He nearly fell apart when I killed Blockbuster, and he deserved it. If you kill me, what will it do to Nightwing?"

"I have no intention of killing you," Donna promised. "I have every intention of making you wish I had."

***

Strength endowed by the gods made sure the fight was a short one, as did the fact that Donna's conscience wouldn't allow her to continue beating the other woman once they reached the begging stage.

But it was a stage Donna enjoyed, and a small part of her felt badly about not regretting her enjoyment at all. Crouching down beside the crumpled, bloody mess that lay on the ground, Donna turned the other woman's head up to look at her, ignoring Tarantula's soft cry as she did so. "I was the only girl for a long time, in a family full of boys. I kind of got attached to them." she said softly. "And I needed to make clear to you that you need to stay far, far away from my family." Because Dick was just now picking up the pieces of his life that she had so thoroughly broken. Donna wouldn't allow _anyone_ to mess that up.

"I - I won't," Tarantula swore, and Donna did feel a smidgen of guilt for the fear that ran in the other woman's voice.

It wasn't quite enough guilt to detract her from finishing her promise. "That's good. Because there are still twenty-three bones in your body I could break without killing you. The next time you decide to escape from prison, I will break every one of them, in addition to the pain that you are currently in. And if I'm busy, I know a princess that will be more than happy to take care of you for me."

"You don't. . need . . to bring in. . .Wonder Woman."

"I wasn't talking about Diana. I was talking about one that has a lot less self control than she does, and a whole lot more reason to care about Nightwing." Donna smiled sweetly. "You're heard of Starfire? She was a Titan too. And she's very protective of what's left of her _family._ "

"I won't - I won't escape again." The voice was pleading, and Donna knew it had to be enough. She pulled the woman to her feet and signaled Kyle that she needed backup. When he arrived, he looked quizzically at her, and she shrugged, knowing that if she could have explained the reasons why, Kyle would have understood, and not just because once upon a time, he'd been a Titan, too.

"Her name is Catalina Flores. She'll need medical attention once you get her back to prison. Make sure they know that."

"I'm pretty sure that'll be obvious," Kyle answered.

"Thank you, Lantern." It was a dismissal, and Kyle chose to go along with it, as he lifted the nearly unconscious woman into the air.

Donna watched them go, glad that Kyle had been around to escort Tarantula back to prison. Neither Diana nor the Amazons as a whole needed any more bad PR, of the kind that would have come from Donna showing up with a badly bloodied body at a prison.

Besides, couldn't leave New York - she had a city to look over. She had promised Nightwing she'd keep it safe while he was away.

She had every intention of keeping that promise.


End file.
